Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Alan Moore, new 52, scott snyder, swamp thing

Roots: Swamp Thing Then and Now

Published Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:00:15 -0600

Although the move towards returning Vertigo characters once a part of the DC Universe back to the DCU proper began before the New 52, with the return of Animal Man beginning in 52, Swamp Thing during Brightest Day, and Death as part of the "The Black Ring" saga in Action Comics, the return kicked in with full force upon the relaunch. Falling under the billing, "The Dark," we have seen the return of John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, and Shade, the Changing Man to the DCU, with Animal Man and Swamp Thing both getting their own titles, while Constantine, Madame Xanadu, and Shade appear in Justice League Dark.

Coming into the New 52, the question with these characters more than any others was how much of their past would survive in the New DCU? Would their history and characterizations continue from their time as Vertigo characters or would they be pale imitations thereof?

While Animal Man has been back for a few years, it has been so long since Swamp Thing was a part of the mainstream DCU that a full generation has grown up with him detached from the universe where he first got his start. The foundations for the Vertigo line came from Swamp Thing, with the writing of Alan Moore and, later, Rick Veitch pushing the boundaries of what could be done within a superhero title progressively farther with each issue, until Veitch was fired over his plans to introduce Jesus Christ into his time travel story, with Swamp Thing having been present at the crucifixion. The story goes that Swamp Thing was to be the wood used for the cross Christ was crucified on and while that has never been confirmed there was reference to it in a back-up story by Neil Gaiman for Swamp Thing Annual #5, with Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, hinting at this, asking Swamp Thing if he had been the "tree" that Christ died on.

While this might sound like anything but a traditional DCU story arc, it is easy to forget how ensconced the Moore and Veitch Swamp Thing stories were in the DCU. Saga of the Swamp Thing #24, by Moore and Stephen Bissette, featured the Justice League of America, and following this appearance were three issues guest-starring Etrigan the Demon. #30 featured the Monitor and Lyla from Crisis on Infinite Earths, with appearances by the Joker, the Floronic Man, and the Spectre. Plus, while it's outside of his series, there is the classic story from DC Comics Presents #85 by Moore, with artwork by Veitch, with Swamp Thing curing Superman of poisoning induced by a meteorite carrying deadly spores from Krypton. Swamp Thing was so much a part of the DCU that he appeared in three issues of Crisis and even popped up in Millennium.

All that said, just because he had been a part of the old DCU did not mean that there still was a place for him there, or that there would be a place for him in the new one. So far, Scott Snyder is doing a very good job of showing that there is. Rather than the writer himself telling you why there is a need for Swamp Thing still in the DCU, he uses Superman to do so, along with using the Man of Steel to show us where Alec Holland has been, in the first issue. Rather than being in awe of Superman like so many non-powered humans, Holland is simply annoyed, more interested in getting Superman to leave instead of listening to what he has to say.

In the second issue, we get a look at the one of the Swamp Things of the past, Calbraith Rodgers, tying this version of Swamp Thing closely with the one of the Moore era, picking up on the theme first introduced in Saga of the Swamp Thing #33, by Moore and Ron Randall, that Swamp Thing goes beyond just one person, that instead returns generation after generation to fill a need in the world. The Parliament of Trees is reintroduced, leaving some mystery to those unfamiliar with this in the past while giving old-school readers another strong connection to the series' past.

Despite being tied very much to the superhero past of Swamp Thing, by the third issue the tone that this series had during the Vertigo era is back in full force, as we are introduced to sociopathic bubble boy William Arcane and the fun way he communicates with the dead and rips people all apart. Such a sweet little boy. Abby Arcane is back, only acting more like Sarah Connor than the Abby we knew and loved. The Rot, the reason behind the dying birds in the first issue and the Parliament asking for Alec's return in the second, has deep ties to her family, which messed her all up and left her baby brother a demonic version of Cole Sear. The Green can stop the Rot, which is why William is allergic to chloroform and why Abby hides in the swamp, desperate to avoid the voices from the Rot that plague her.

There's enough newness here to keep things interesting for both new fans and old, while still very much building on the past rather than ignoring it and starting fresh. Before sitting down to do this review, I hadn't ventured out into the Dark, but this series has me definitely interested in seeing what I have been missing out on.

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